A Moment of Weakness
by minimerc
Summary: OneShot. ShikaIno. 'No, she could never let him see her weakness. She had to be strong. If only just for a little longer.' Kinda odd... Happy Bday fic for Shika and Ino


Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and/or its characters.

_A Moment of Weakness_

The hot, white pain. It seared through her chest cavity. She wanted to cringe, crumple on the ground, to do something, anything, to make the pain go away. But she couldn't let _him_ see. She could never let him see her like this. Not him. Anyone but him.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to will the pain away. She had to. And it vanished. It always did that.

"Oi, Ino, are you okay?" she heard him say.

"I'm fine, Shikamaru! I'm just taking a break." She said indignantly. _'Only a little longer…'_ she told herself.

"Mendokusai." He muttered under his breath. "I was only checking. You don't have to bite my head off.

No, she could never let him see her weakness. She had to be strong. If only just for a little longer. She never wanted to see him concerned about her. She never wanted to have him feel sadness because of her. But she knew that she already broke his heart.

Ino turned away from Shikamaru and winced. She hated herself for that. He had never told her to her face, but she knew. Her teal eyes saw more than what people gave her credit for. She saw his suffering, but chose to ignore it. She had to. She refused to lose Sasuke to Sakura, even if she didn't feel love for him. If she didn't, then she would have been tangled up in all things Shikamaru. Her years of Sasuke chasing would have been over. She would have willingly fallen for Shikamaru, his troublesomeness, his laziness, and his grumpiness.

And what was so wrong with that, you ask. Shikamaru wasn't the type of guy girls would swoon over. Sure, he is intelligent, but because of his old fashioned ways he reminded many people of an old man. It was rare to see him smile or smirk. He complained about everything and everybody, and yet, she had become smitten with him. Of course, she could never tell him. Her pride wouldn't allow it. If she did, she would be admitting defeat to Sakura, something she vowed never to do.

So here she was, Yamanaka Ino, age 17, on a mission as a Chuunin of Konoha, with a near fatal injury. To make it worse, she was traveling with Shikamaru, the man she loved and hated, that she rejected long ago. She sighed. Things never seemed to go her way. The retrieval and assassination were a lot more difficult than Ino had expected. That medical nin placed his 'scalpel' over her heart and lungs, cutting some of the nerves and tissues and caused occasional internal bleeding. Shikamaru came out of the mission unscathed due to his time as a Chuunin during the Konoha/Sound war. He was worried about her, but did not press the issue. He knew better.

"If you want to take a rest, by all means m'lady." He told her sarcastically before plopping down on the ground. He leaned back against the ground and watched the clouds. She watched him with contempt.

"Shikamaru!!" her voice began to rise dangerously. That only meant one thing: trouble for Shikamaru.

'Shimatta' he silently cursed, awaiting the onslaught. But none came. Instead the blonde woman fell to her knees and broke into fits of coughing. Instantly the clouds were forgotten and he was by her side, like old times. He looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "Ino, are you okay?" He was very alarmed once he saw blood begin to drip from the girl's hand. "You're bleeding internally! Why didn't you tell me?!?"

The blonde girl averted her eyes. There he was again, being so fretful. She wanted him to hate her. Hell, she wanted to hate him. There was nothing in his personality that she liked, but she still loved him. Ignoring the aching in her chest and the lightheaded-ness, she stood up. He tried to help her, but she just pushed him away. Again. "I don't need to be babied, Shikamaru!" she spat at him.

He ignored the venom in her voice. He knew all too well that Ino was a woman of pride and that excepting help was one of the hardest things for her to do. But this was more important than a woman's damn pride, he thought. "Ino, I'm going to help you no matter what you say." He told her coolly.

"You can help me by leaving me alone." She informed him as she began to walk back to her home village. She hadn't meant to be angry with him, but it _was_ all his fault, right? Why did he have to fall in love with her? Why did he make her fall for him? Why did he keep coming back to her after her rejections? Why couldn't he and these feeling for him just leave her the hell alone!?! " Why don't you just leave me alone?"

"I can't. That's the troublesome thing about it." He stated. "If you won't-"

"No Nara Shikamaru. Just leave me alone! You and your damn troublesome ways. You ruined my life! You ruined me, damnit!! All you do is cause me trouble!! I hate you!!! And you should hate me!!" she yelled at him and then turned away as she felt another fit of coughs surge through her body. It was too much. She wanted to cry, but being a shinobi, she couldn't. Besides, that would be a sign of weakness. Her coughs subsided and silence took over.

"Ino… You can hate me all you want, but that's not going to make me hate you. Hating you would be too troublesome." He said, rolling his eyes. "I-"

"You did this to me… you cause me all of this pain and confusion. I hate it. I hate feeling confused, unsure, and hesitant. Why couldn't you love someone else? Why'd it have to be me?" she was desperate for the answer. He refused to give it to her.

With nothing but silence, she continued, "I hate everything about you, Nara Shikamaru. You're laziness, lack of ambition, your sarcasm, you cynical remarks, your everything!! So why… why do I love you…" she trailed off.

Well that wasn't the best confession of love. She hadn't even meant to ramble on like that or tell him her true feelings. It was hard though. She couldn't hold it in any longer. Four years had been long enough. And all that lazy bum did was stand behind her in silence. Damn, how much she hated awkward silences. Say something, anything, she thought.

"Mendokusai. So you knew and you just ignored me. You really are a selfish brat." He said coldly. She flinched. She heard his footsteps approaching her. "But I shouldn't be surprised. I signed up for that along time ago." He picked her up and cradled the woman in his arms before she could protest. "Such a troublesome onna." He muttered.

She looked up at him in disbelief. He should hate her, but he doesn't. "But why? Why do you still care, even after all that I put you through? How can you still…" she averted her gaze.

He turned his head to the sky, a serious, contemplating look on his face. "Sometimes you are more troublesome than you're worth. You annoy and nag me to no end. You're bossy, loud, and really troublesome. You do things I hate, but because you do them, I can't hate them. I can strongly dislike them, but not hate them. I can't _not_ love you anymore. It doesn't work like that."

"Besides, it would be too troublesome to find another girl to love, you're the most convenient." He added, receiving a whack in the back of the head, courtesy of Ino. She knew that he didn't mean it………entirely anyway. Of course this action caused her to have another fit. Without another thought, Shikamaru took off towards Konoha.

* * *

::Yawn:: okay… Happy B-day Ino! And Happy Belated B-day Shikamaru!!! If you couldn't tell, it's my first ShikaIno… It's a tad depressing and yet not. I'm sorry if it's a bit craptacular, but I was bored. Quick b-day present for Shika and Ino. : )

Song that inspired this fic: "I Hate Everything About You" by 3 Days Grace.

minimerc


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